Is anyone else troubled by the fact that Barack Obma has appointed a new Secretary of Education whose own school district under-performs the nation on standardized tests AND is provides such a lousy education that the president-elect and his wife refused to send their children to the district's schools.

In 2007, only 17 percent of eighth graders tested at or above grade level in reading in Chicago Public Schools – the school system administered by Arne Duncan since 2001.

President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday tapped Duncan to become secretary of education in the upcoming administration.

Duncan, hailed by Obama as a reformer, said he would like to take the lessons he learned in Chicago with him when he moves to Washington. “I'm also eager to apply some of the lessons we have learned here in Chicago to help school districts all across our country," Duncan said after Obama formally named him to the job in Chicago.

By every measure, Duncan is a FAILURE as a superintendent, with his reforms having been ineffective. Can our children afford to have the lessons he learned in Chicago applied nationwide, which would presumably lower student performance? We'd be going from "No Child Moves Ahead" to "No Child Learns To Read". I therefore urge the US Senate to reject Arne Duncan's nomination to be Secretary of Education.

Posted by: Greg at 03:32 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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